Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Padilla-Mack.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Nicole. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Oh where to begin, I was born on a hot summer’s day… err.. probably don’t need to go back that far. Let’s start back in highschool when I interned at Aon Corporation in their corporate events department. I had an amazing mentor that showed me all the tricks of the trade when planning large scale and small scale events with budgets of all sizes.
At age 22, I planned a destination wedding anniversary/vow renewal that included every detail from the invitations to the dinners, excursions, décor, vendor selection, gift bags and even the party playlist. I loved every minute of the planning process and never found myself overwhelmed or stressed by any of it. To this day, I have guests tell me what a great trip that was and even then how they knew this is where I would end up as a career.
After about 15 years of working in corporate events and helping countless friends plan their weddings, I realized that I was onto something. From that point on Mack Wedding Design was born and the rest is history.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have to give credit to my experience in the corporate world for not only providing me with the skills to work with all different personalities, but also the structure needed to run a business successfully. Without that background I think starting my company would have been a bit rockier.
Overall, creating Mack Wedding Design has been far more rewarding than stressful. That being said, one challenge that is truly out of my control is mother nature, and here in Chicago expect the unexpected and always have a plan B.
Mack Wedding Design – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I consider myself a tough cookie and when it comes to my clients, I am first and foremost their advocate. I work well with vendors but if I ever experience someone taking advantage of a client I am quick to step in. It’s a bit unfortunate that when it comes to pricing for events, the minute the word “Wedding” comes into play the price goes up.
I don’t believe that you need to have a huge budget to have a beautiful wedding and everyone deserves their wedding day to be just as amazing as they envisioned. When it comes to size, it’s true we’re not a huge company but you would never know that based on our customer service. We are always available, day or night and our clients truly appreciate that.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment has to be either getting our beautiful new website up and running or the very first time we were tipped by a client (a regular occurrence now). You see, I always believed our pricing was fair for both us and our clients so I never expected to receive a tip.
When we did receive one, it solidified that we were providing a level of service above and beyond what the client expected and they were so grateful that they tipped us. Funny thing is that the same client has been one of our biggest source of referrals. and like most clients we have, I’m truly grateful to now call her a friend.
Pricing:
- Full Wedding and Event Planning starts at 3,000+
- Day of Event Coordination starts at $1400+
- Event Consulting starts at $100 an hour
- Sweet Table Design starts at $250.00
Contact Info:
- Address: 1958 North Fairfield Avenue, Chicago, IL 60647
- Website: www.mackweddings.com
- Phone: 7734478579
- Email: mackweddings@gmail.com
- Instagram: Www.instagram.com/mackweddingdesign
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MackWeddingDesign/
Image Credit:
Red Photography By Michelle, Rush Productions, Juliet Maher Photography
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